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In the very early 1800s Hopley Yeaton’s strong voice counseled Congress to construct Maine’s West Quoddy Head Light Station. He never imagined that his body would one day rest there...to be moved, finally, to a permanent monument at the Coast Guard Academy.
Yeaton, born in Portsmouth NH about 1840, served with distinction during the Revolutionary War which brought him to George Washington’s attention. Pressed for money, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton formed the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790 to enforce collection of import tariff duties. Washington designated fifty-year-old Hopley Yeaton captain of a cutter, the first commissioned officer in the new service.
Assigned to Eastport, Maine, Yeaton soon settled on the peninsula now North Lubec. There he died, after the successful years of revenue service, to be buried on his farm in 1812. There he lay, until 1974, when with legal authority Coast Guard removed the remains on a double journey to its Academy in New London CT. Many individuals, including “Mr. Lighthouse” Ken Black, facilitated the creation of a permanent Yeaton Memorial at the Coast Guard Academy.
That memorial was not ready on November 1, 1974, when Coast Guard officers and crew arrived at Yeaton’s 162-year-old original grave to move the body onto federal property pending the journey to the Academy. Suitable federal land laid nearby at the grounds of West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, itself a memorial to the vision of Hopley Yeaton.
When the new monument was ready, the Coast Guard returned on August 19, 1975 and the Yeaton remains were returned to the original gravesite at North Lubec for an appropriate ceremony before the casket was placed on the Eagle for its final journey to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
The Eagle reached pier at New London on August 23 where, with dignity, the casket was taken ashore, first to the Academy Chapel, and then to the final resting place.
The Yeaton headstone remains at the North Lubec site, a Coast guard ledger stone added explaining the sequence of events in 1974-75. Hopley Yeaton’s remains now rest at the Coast Guard Academy. Hopley Yeaton would be pleased.
Would Hopley Yeaton be even more pleased if his second grave at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse were permanently marked for future generations to learn about him and his role in history? We believe so and would like to see that happen. However, first some money needs to be raised.
If you would like to make a donation toward a permanent marker honoring Hopley Yeaton at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse please send your donation to Hopley Yeaton Memorial Fund, c/o Lighthouse Digest, P.O. Box 250, East Machias, ME 04630.
This story appeared in the
September 2009 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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